JP6204289B2 - Image reading apparatus and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus and an image forming apparatus including the image reading apparatus, and more particularly to a technique for notifying a user of the state of the apparatus.

  In an image reading apparatus such as a scanner or an image forming apparatus provided with the image reading apparatus, a display unit such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) is generally provided on the front surface of a housing. Status information indicating the state of the apparatus is displayed on the display unit (see, for example, Patent Document 1). For example, when a jam such as a paper jam occurs in the image forming apparatus, the fact that the jam has occurred and the position where the jam has occurred are displayed on the display unit. As described above, in the image reading apparatus and the image forming apparatus provided with the display unit, the status information is displayed on the display unit to notify the user of the state of the apparatus.

JP 2003-89237 A

  However, in some inexpensive low-end machines, the display unit may not be provided. Even when a display unit is provided, the size of the display unit may be small and may not be suitable for displaying status information. For this reason, even when a jam such as a paper jam occurs, it is not possible to notify the user to that effect.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to enable a user to be notified of the state of an apparatus with a simple configuration that does not depend on a display unit.

  An image reading apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention is provided so as to be openable and closable on one side of the contact glass, a casing that forms an outline of the image reading apparatus, a contact glass on which a document to be read is placed. A document pressing member, a light emitting unit that radiates light toward the document, and a light receiving unit that receives reflected light reflected by the document, are provided on the other side of the contact glass so as to be movable in the sub-scanning direction. Connected to the reading unit, the driving unit that moves the reading unit in the sub-scanning direction, the operation control unit that controls the driving operation by the driving unit and the light emitting operation by the light emitting unit, and the image reading apparatus or the image reading apparatus An acquisition unit that acquires status information indicating a state of the device that is provided, and a character or symbol indicating the status information at a predetermined location of the housing And when the acquisition unit acquires status information, the operation control unit moves the reading unit to a position corresponding to a position where a character or symbol indicating the acquired status information is marked. And an image reading device that causes the light emitting unit to emit light in a state where the reading unit is located at the position.

  An image forming apparatus according to another aspect of the present invention includes the above-described image reading device, and an image forming unit that forms an image read by the image reading device on a sheet. The image forming apparatus acquires status information indicating the state of the image forming apparatus in addition to status information indicating the state of the image reading apparatus.

  According to the present invention, the user can be notified of the state of the apparatus with a simple configuration that does not depend on the display unit.

1 is a perspective view illustrating an image forming apparatus including an image reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of an image forming apparatus including an image reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a structure of an image reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the image reading unit in a state where the document conveying unit according to the embodiment of the present invention is opened. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of status information notification processing of an image forming apparatus including an image reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing an image forming apparatus including an image reading apparatus according to Modification 3. FIG. 10 is a perspective view illustrating an image forming apparatus including an image reading apparatus according to Modification 4.

  Hereinafter, an image reading apparatus and an image forming apparatus including the same according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an image forming apparatus including an image reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the image forming apparatus including the image reading apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  The image forming apparatus 1 is a multifunction machine having a plurality of functions such as a facsimile communication function, a copy function, a printer function, and a scanner function. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 is generally configured by an apparatus main body 80 and an image reading apparatus 10 disposed above the apparatus main body 80.

  A paper feed unit 82, a paper transport unit 83, an image forming unit 84, and the like are accommodated in a housing 81 that constitutes an outline of the apparatus main body 80.

  The paper feed unit 82 includes a paper feed cassette (not shown) that stores paper, and a feeding roller (not shown) that feeds the paper stored in the paper feed cassette toward a paper transport path provided inside the housing 81. ). A remaining sheet detection sensor 821 is provided in the sheet cassette. The paper remaining amount detection sensor 821 is, for example, a reflective sensor having a light emitting element and a light receiving element, and the main emission direction thereof is arranged toward the paper stored in the paper feed cassette. The light emitted from the light emitting element and reflected by the paper is received by the light receiving element. The remaining paper amount detection sensor 821 outputs a signal corresponding to the amount of light received by the light receiving element to the acquisition unit 103 of the control unit 100 described later.

  The paper transport unit 83 includes a plurality of transport roller pairs (not shown) provided at a plurality of locations along the paper transport path, and a drive unit (not shown) that rotationally drives the transport roller pairs. The sheet fed from 82 is conveyed toward the image forming unit 84. In addition, the paper transport unit 83 includes a plurality of jam detection sensors 831 at a plurality of locations along the paper transport path. The jam detection sensor 831 is, for example, a reflection type sensor, similar to the paper remaining amount detection sensor 821 described above, and the main emission direction thereof is arranged toward a predetermined position in the paper conveyance path. . A reflection mirror is provided at a position facing the jam detection sensor 831 across the paper conveyance path. When no paper exists at a predetermined position in the paper conveyance path, the light emitted from the light emitting element is reflected. The light is reflected by the mirror and received by the light receiving element. On the other hand, when a sheet is present at a predetermined position in the sheet conveyance path, the light emitted from the light emitting element is blocked by the sheet, and the light is not received by the light receiving element. The jam detection sensor 831 outputs a signal corresponding to the presence or absence of light received by the light receiving element to the acquisition unit 103.

  The image forming unit 84 includes a photosensitive drum (not shown), a charging device (not shown), an exposure device (not shown), a developing device (not shown), and the like. A toner image of the document read by the image reading device 10 is formed on the drum. The paper conveyed by the paper conveyance unit 83 is transferred to the discharge tray 88 after the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum is transferred and subjected to a fixing process. The image forming unit 84 includes a toner container (not shown) that stores toner. A toner remaining amount detection sensor 841 is provided on the wall surface of the toner container. The remaining toner detection sensor 841 is an eddy current sensor, for example, and outputs a voltage signal corresponding to the pressure applied to the wall surface of the toner container by the toner to the acquisition unit 103.

  An operation unit 85 is disposed on the front surface of the casing 81 of the apparatus main body 80. The operation unit 85 includes a plurality of operation keys 851 such as a start key for instructing execution of an image reading job, for example.

  FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of the image reading apparatus 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The image reading apparatus 10 includes an image reading unit 30 and a document conveying unit 20 disposed above the image reading unit 30.

  The document transport unit 20 is configured to eject a document placing table 21 on which a document is placed, a document transport mechanism 22 that transports a document placed on the document placing table 21, a platen mat 23, and an image-read document. And a document discharge unit 24. The document transport mechanism 22 feeds a plurality of documents placed on the document placing table 21 one by one by a pair of paper feed rollers 221 and separation rollers 222, and feeds the fed documents by the transport rollers 223. It conveys toward the contact glass 32 mentioned later. The document conveyed to the contact glass 32 is read by a reading unit 40 described later. The document transport mechanism 22 discharges an image-read document to the document discharge unit 24 by a discharge roller 224.

  The document conveying unit 20 is provided so as to be openable and closable with respect to the main surface of the contact glass 32, and also serves as a document pressing member that presses the document placed on the contact glass 32.

  An opening is provided in the surface 31A of the casing 31 of the image reading unit 30 that faces the document conveyance unit 20 in a state where the document conveyance unit 20 as the document pressing member is closed. A contact glass 32 is attached to the opening. The contact glass 32 is divided into two sheets of a first contact glass 321 for document conveyance reading and a second contact glass 322 for document fixed reading, and the first contact glass 321 and the second contact glass. A document separation member 33 for separating the document read by the reading unit 40 from the first contact glass 321 and discharging the document is provided between the document separation member 33 and the document separation member 322.

  A reading unit 40 is provided on the surface (back surface) opposite to the surface (front surface) on which the document of the contact glass 32 is placed so as to be movable in the sub-scanning direction. In the fixed document reading, the reading unit 40 is reciprocated in the sub-scanning direction by a reading unit driving unit 50 (see FIG. 2) including a motor, a gear, and the like, and the document placed on the second contact glass 322 is read. On the other hand, in document conveyance reading, the reading unit driving unit 50 fixes the reading unit 40 at a predetermined position on the back surface of the first contact glass 321, and the document conveyance unit 20 conveys the reading unit 40 toward the first contact glass 321. The scanned original is read.

  The reading unit 40 emits light toward a document to be read while switching light of three colors of red, green, and blue by a light emitting unit 41 such as an LED (Light Emitting Diode), and also includes a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS). ) The reflected light reflected by the document is received by a light receiving unit (not shown) such as an image sensor. The light receiving unit converts the received light into an electrical signal and acquires image data for one line in the main scanning direction. The image data is converted into a digital signal by an A / D conversion unit built in the image forming apparatus 1 and further subjected to various types such as shading correction, gamma correction, chromatic aberration correction, MTF (Modulation Transfer Function) correction, and scanner color correction. Image processing is performed. The image data generated by the image processing is stored in an image memory or HDD built in the image forming apparatus 1.

  FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the image reading unit 30 according to the embodiment of the present invention in a state where the document conveying unit 20 is opened. Characters or symbols indicating status information indicating the states of the image reading apparatus 10 and the image forming apparatus 1 are marked on a predetermined portion 34 of the casing 31 of the image reading unit 30. The status information includes, for example, information indicating the remaining amount of paper stored in the paper feed cassette of the paper feed unit 82, information indicating the position of a jam occurring in the paper transport path, and the toner container of the image forming unit 84. There is information indicating the remaining amount of toner contained therein. In the example shown in FIG. 4, characters indicating these pieces of status information are marked on the surface 31 </ b> A of the housing 31 at a plurality of locations spaced along the sub-scanning direction. In FIG. 4, “PE” indicates that the paper feed unit 82 is out of paper (Paper Empty) and there is no remaining amount of paper stored in the paper feed cassette of the paper feed unit 82 or the remaining paper. Indicates a state with a small amount. “TE” indicates a state where the image forming unit 84 is out of toner (Toner Empty) and there is no remaining amount of toner stored in the toner container of the image forming unit 84 or a state where the remaining amount of toner is low. . “J” indicates that a jam has occurred in the paper transport path, and numbers “1” to “4” indicate the position of the jam that has occurred in the paper transport path.

  Returning to FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 1 further includes a control unit 100. The control unit 100 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and the like. The control unit 100 functions as the control unit 101, the operation control unit 102, the acquisition unit 103, and the reception unit 104 when a control program stored in the ROM or HDD is executed by the CPU. In addition, each said structure of the control unit 100 may be each comprised by the hard circuit irrespective of the operation | movement based on the above-mentioned control program.

  The control unit 101 governs overall operation control of the image forming apparatus 1. The control unit 101 is connected to the image reading device 10, the paper feeding unit 82, the paper transport unit 83, the image forming unit 84, the operation unit 85, and the like. Send / receive signals or data to / from.

  The acquisition unit 103 has a function of acquiring status information indicating the state of the image forming apparatus 1 that is an apparatus connected to the image reading apparatus 10 or the image reading apparatus 10. Specifically, the acquisition unit 103 acquires signals output from sensors such as the remaining paper amount detection sensor 821, the jam detection sensor 831, and the remaining toner amount detection sensor 841, and analyzes the acquired signals. Get status information.

  The accepting unit 104 has a function of accepting an execution instruction or the like of an image reading job input using the operation key 851 of the operation unit 85 or the like.

  The operation control unit 102 has a function of controlling the driving operation of the reading unit 40 by the reading unit driving unit 50 and the light emitting operation by the light emitting unit 41. As described above, the image forming apparatus 1 is a multifunction device having a plurality of functions, and has various operation modes such as an image forming mode for forming an image on a sheet and an image reading mode for reading an image of a document. Yes. The operation control unit 102 is in the image reading mode as the operation mode of the image forming apparatus 1. While the image reading job is being executed, the operation control unit 102 causes the reading unit driving unit 50 to reciprocate the reading unit 40 in the sub-scanning direction. By irradiating with light, the reading unit 40 reads the image of the document. On the other hand, when the operation mode of the image forming apparatus 1 is not the image reading mode and the image reading job is not being executed, the operation control unit 102 causes the reading unit driving unit 50 to move the reading unit 40 to a predetermined position, and By irradiating the light emitting unit 41 with light in a state where the reading unit 40 is located at the predetermined position, the status information acquired by the acquiring unit 103 is notified to the user. Details of this status information notification processing will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of status information notification processing of the image forming apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The operation control unit 102 of the image forming apparatus 1 determines whether or not the operation mode of the image forming apparatus 1 is the image reading mode (step S10). In the image forming apparatus 1, the operation mode becomes the image reading mode when an instruction to execute an image reading job is received by the receiving unit 104.

  When the operation mode is not the image reading mode (NO in step S10), the image forming apparatus 1 performs the processing after step S13. On the other hand, when the operation mode is the image reading mode (YES in step S10), the operation control unit 102 executes an image reading process (step S11). Then, after the end of the image reading process (YES in step S12), when the operation mode of the image forming apparatus 1 is no longer the image reading mode, the processes after step S13 are performed.

  In the process of step S <b> 13, the acquisition unit 103 acquires status information indicating the state of the image reading apparatus 10 or the image forming apparatus 1 based on a signal output from the remaining paper amount detection sensor 821 or the like.

  Thereafter, the operation control unit 102 determines whether there is status information to be notified among the status information acquired by the acquisition unit 103 in step S13 (step S14). Here, the status information to be notified is information indicated by characters or symbols marked at predetermined positions of the casing 31 of the image reading unit 30 in the status information. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the status information to be notified corresponds to error information indicating an error state such as a paper out state, a toner out state, and a jam state.

  For example, when the acquisition unit 103 acquires status information indicating that the remaining amount of paper stored in the paper cassette of the paper supply unit 82 is equal to or greater than a predetermined number, the operation control unit 102 It is determined that the information is not status information to be notified. On the other hand, when the acquisition unit 103 acquires status information indicating that the remaining amount of paper stored in the paper cassette of the paper supply unit 82 is less than a predetermined number, the operation control unit 102 receives the status information. Is determined to be status information to be notified.

  If there is no status information to be notified (NO in step S14), the image forming apparatus 1 ends the status information notification process. On the other hand, when there is status information to be notified (YES in step S14), the operation control unit 102 determines whether or not there are a plurality of status information to be notified (step S15).

  When there are a plurality of status information items to be notified (YES in step S15), the status information having the highest notification priority among the plurality of status information items is specified (step S16). In the status information, a notification priority indicating a priority to notify the user is determined in advance. For example, status information indicating a jam condition has a higher notification priority than status information indicating a paper out condition or a toner out condition.

  When the number of status information to be notified is one (NO in step S15), or when the status information having the highest notification priority among the plurality of status information is identified in the process of step S16, the operation control unit 102 Moves the reading unit 40 to the reading unit driving unit 50 to a position corresponding to a place marked with one status information or a character or symbol indicating status information having the highest notification priority (step S17). For example, when the status information having the highest notification priority among the plurality of status information to be notified is the status information indicating the toner exhaustion state, as shown in FIG. It is moved to a position facing the location marked “TE”.

  In addition, the operation control unit 102 causes the light emitting unit 41 to emit light in a state where the reading unit 40 is located at the corresponding position (step S17). In this case, when the document conveying unit 20 is closed, the light emitted from the light emitting unit 41 slightly leaks from the gap between the document conveying unit 20 and the image reading unit 30. Thereby, the image forming apparatus 1 can notify the user that there is some status information to be notified to the user. In the state in which the document conveying unit 20 is opened, the position of the reading unit 40 is visually recognized by the user as shown in FIG. 4, so the image forming apparatus 1 informs the user of the contents of status information to be notified to the user. be able to. In the example illustrated in FIG. 4, the image forming apparatus 1 can notify the user that the toner contained in the toner container is insufficient.

  In the process of step S17, the operation control unit 102 causes the light emitting unit 41 to emit light having a lower intensity than the light emitted from the light emitting unit 41 during the execution of the image reading process. As a result, it is possible to avoid a situation where light of strong intensity is incident on the user's eyes.

  In the process of step S <b> 17, the operation control unit 102 does not irradiate light from the entire light emitting region of the light emitting unit 41, but irradiates light from a part of the light emitting region of the light emitting unit 41. Also good. For example, the operation control unit 102 causes the light emitting unit 41 to emit light from a region at one end portion on the side where a character or symbol indicating status information in the main scanning direction is marked in the light emitting region of the light emitting unit 41. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress the amount of light incident on the user's eyes while ensuring the function of notifying the user of the state of the apparatus with a simple configuration that does not depend on the display unit.

  In other words, when the operation control unit 102 performs the process of moving the reading unit 40 to the position corresponding to the location where the character or symbol indicating the status information is marked and irradiating the light emitting unit 41 with light. In addition, the light emitting unit 41 is irradiated with light different from the case where the reading unit 40 irradiates the light emitting unit 41 with light during the image reading operation. In this way, by irradiating light with a different irradiation form from that during the image reading operation, it is clearly notified by the user that the image forming apparatus 1 is not in the image reading operation but in the notification operation for notifying the status information. can do.

After the process of step S17, the operation control unit 102 determines whether or not the status information acquired by the acquisition unit 103 has been changed (step S18). When the status information is changed (YES in step S18) and there is no status information to be notified (NO in step S19), the operation control unit 102 sets the reading unit 40 to the home position in the reading unit driving unit 50. While moving, the light emission part 41 is made to stop irradiating light (step S20).
On the other hand, if there is status information to be notified (YES in step S19), the process returns to the process of step S15, and the operation control unit 102 corresponds to the position where the character or symbol indicating the remaining status information is marked. Then, the reading unit 40 is moved to the reading unit driving unit 50 (step S17).

  As described above, according to the image reading apparatus 10 and the image forming apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, even when the display unit is not provided or the display unit is provided, the size of the display unit is not provided. Is small and not suitable for displaying status information, it is possible to notify the user of the state of the apparatus without newly adding an illumination apparatus such as an LED to the configuration of the existing image reading apparatus. That is, according to the image reading apparatus 10 and the image forming apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to notify the user of the state of the apparatus with a simple configuration that does not depend on the display unit.

  The present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made.

<Modification 1>
Depending on the type of status information acquired by the acquisition unit 103, the operation control unit 102 may cause the light emitting unit 41 to irradiate light with different irradiation modes. For example, in the image reading apparatus 10 and the image forming apparatus 1 according to the first modification, the operation control unit 102 emits light when the status information is information indicating an error state such as a paper out state, a toner out state, and a jam state. The part 41 is flashed and irradiated. On the other hand, the operation control unit 102 is not in an error state such as a state where the status information has more than a predetermined number of sheets stored in the sheet cassette or a state where there is more than a predetermined amount of toner stored in the toner container. When the information indicates a normal state, the light emitting unit 41 is illuminated. Accordingly, the user can determine at a glance whether or not an error has occurred in the image forming apparatus 1 or the image reading apparatus 10. As described above, according to the image reading apparatus 10 and the image forming apparatus 1 according to the first modification, the type of status information can be notified in a manner that is easier for the user to understand.

  Note that the operation control unit 102 changes the light emitting area emitted by the light emitting unit 41, changes the color of the light emitted by the light emitting unit 41, or changes the light emission according to the type of status information acquired by the acquisition unit 103. The irradiation form of the light emitting unit 41 may be varied by changing the intensity of light emitted by the unit 41.

<Modification 2>
In the above embodiment, when there are a plurality of status information to be notified, the operation control unit 102 reads the reading unit at a position corresponding to a place where a character or symbol indicating the status information having the highest notification priority is marked. Although the case where 40 is moved to the reading unit driving unit 50 has been described, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this case. When there are a plurality of status information items to be notified, the operation control unit 102 sequentially places the reading unit 40 at each position corresponding to each location marked with a character or symbol indicating the status information. It may be moved to 50.

<Modification 3>
FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating the image forming apparatus 1 including the image reading apparatus 10 according to the third modification. In the image reading apparatus 10 according to the third modification, the image reading apparatus 10 or the like is placed in a predetermined portion 35 of the front surface portion of the housing 31 that is not covered by the document conveying section 20 with the document conveying section 20 closed. Characters or symbols indicating status information indicating the state of the image forming apparatus 1 are marked.

  In the image reading apparatus 10 according to the modified example 3, when the reading unit 40 is located at a position corresponding to a place where a character or symbol indicating status information is marked, the light emitted from the light emitting unit 41 is at the position. It is configured to leak out from the vicinity of the portion where the character or symbol indicating the corresponding status information is marked. For example, when the reading unit 40 is located at a position corresponding to a location marked “TE”, the light emitted from the light emitting unit 41 is emitted from the gap 36 </ b> B between the document conveying unit 20 and the image reading unit 30. Leaks out. In addition, when the reading unit 40 is located at a position corresponding to the place marked “PE”, the light emitted from the light emitting unit 41 is emitted from the gap 36 </ b> A between the document conveying unit 20 and the image reading unit 30. Leaks out. Thus, in the image reading apparatus 10 and the image forming apparatus 1 according to the third modification, the user can be notified of the contents of the status information in a state where the user does not open the document conveying unit 20 and the document conveying unit 20 is closed. it can.

<Modification 4>
FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating the image forming apparatus 1 including the image reading apparatus 10 according to the fourth modification. In the image reading apparatus 10 according to the modified example 4, as in the modified example 3, when the document conveying unit 20 is closed, the image reading device 10 has a predetermined portion 35 on the front surface portion of the casing 31 that is not covered by the document conveying unit 20. Characters or symbols indicating status information indicating the states of the image reading apparatus 10 and the image forming apparatus 1 are marked.

  Further, when the reading unit 40 is positioned at a predetermined position on the front surface portion of the housing 31 in a state where the document conveying unit 20 is closed, a part of the light emitted by the light emitting unit 41 is released outside the apparatus. A plurality of openings 37 are provided. As described above, since characters or symbols indicating status information are marked at the positions corresponding to the positions where the openings 37 are formed, the image reading apparatus 10 and the image forming apparatus 1 according to the fourth modification example. Then, as in the third modification, the user can be notified of the contents of the status information when the user does not open the document transport unit 20 and the document transport unit 20 is closed.

<Modification 5>
The content of the status information shown in the above embodiment is an example, and the present invention is not necessarily limited to this case. For example, when a post-processing device is connected to the image forming apparatus 1, information indicating the remaining amount of staples contained in the stapler of the post-processing device may be notified as status information.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 10 Image reading apparatus 20 Document conveyance part 30 Image reading part 31 Case 32 Contact glass 40 Reading unit 41 Light emission part 50 Reading unit drive part 80 Main body 81 Case 82 Paper feed part 83 Paper conveyance part 84 Image formation Unit 85 operation unit 100 control unit 101 control unit 102 operation control unit 103 acquisition unit 104 reception unit 821 paper remaining amount detection sensor 831 jam detection sensor 841 toner remaining amount detection sensor

Claims (4)

A housing that forms the outline of the image reading apparatus;
A contact glass on which a document to be read is placed;
A document pressing member provided to be freely opened and closed on one side of the contact glass;
A reading unit provided on the other surface side of the contact glass so as to be movable in the sub-scanning direction, and having a light emitting unit that emits light toward the document and a light receiving unit that receives the reflected light reflected by the document;
A drive unit for moving the reading unit in the sub-scanning direction;
An operation control unit for controlling a driving operation by the driving unit and a light emitting operation by the light emitting unit;
An acquisition unit that acquires status information indicating a state of the image reading device or a device connected to the image reading device;
Characters or symbols indicating the status information are marked at predetermined locations of the housing,
When the acquisition unit acquires status information, the operation control unit moves the reading unit to the drive unit to a position corresponding to a location marked with a character or symbol indicating the acquired status information, and When the light emitting unit is irradiated with light in a state where the reading unit is located at the position, and the irradiation is performed, the reading unit is weaker than the light emitted by the light emitting unit during the image reading operation. An image reading apparatus that irradiates the light emitting unit with a different irradiation form from the case where the light emitting unit is irradiated with light during the image reading operation of the light emitting unit . A housing that forms the outline of the image reading apparatus;
A contact glass on which a document to be read is placed;
A document pressing member provided to be freely opened and closed on one side of the contact glass;
A reading unit provided on the other surface side of the contact glass so as to be movable in the sub-scanning direction, and having a light emitting unit that emits light toward the document and a light receiving unit that receives the reflected light reflected by the document;
A drive unit for moving the reading unit in the sub-scanning direction;
An operation control unit for controlling a driving operation by the driving unit and a light emitting operation by the light emitting unit;
An acquisition unit that acquires status information indicating a state of the image reading device or a device connected to the image reading device;
Characters or symbols indicating the status information are marked at predetermined locations of the housing,
When the acquisition unit acquires status information, the operation control unit moves the reading unit to the drive unit to a position corresponding to a location marked with a character or symbol indicating the acquired status information, and In the state where the reading unit is located at the position, the light emitting unit is irradiated with light,
The casing is provided with an opening through which a part of light emitted from the light emitting unit is released to the outside of the apparatus when the reading unit is located at the corresponding position in a state where the document pressing member is closed. ,
Wherein the portion corresponding to the position where the opening is formed in the housing, characters or symbols indicating the status information is marked, images reader. The acquisition unit includes at least one of information indicating a remaining amount of paper in an image forming apparatus connected to the image reading apparatus, information indicating a remaining amount of toner, and information indicating presence / absence of a paper jam and a position where the paper jam has occurred. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one piece of information is acquired as the status information. An image reading apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3 ,
An image forming unit that forms an image read by the image reading device on a sheet,
The acquisition unit is an image forming apparatus that acquires status information indicating a state of the image forming apparatus in addition to status information indicating a state of the image reading apparatus.